


and it's my whole heart

by jamesjoyce



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, F/F, Future Fic, Reunions, Ten Years Later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-06-10 15:20:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6962296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamesjoyce/pseuds/jamesjoyce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was supposed to be just another simple job. But when Blake Belladonna is the criminal that Yang is supposed to apprehend things get a little more complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay, first things first: thank you mori, so, so much. this fic would _literally_ not exist without you. thank you for letting me talk about things with you and for coming up with the idea in the first place. i love you. 
> 
> second thing: thank you @ my tl for listening to me when i talk about writing this, you guys are also the best.
> 
> and third: thanks for reading!!

Here’s the thing: Yang promised Ruby that she would slow down and take fewer jobs, at least for a couple months. But Ruby wasn’t here--she was in Atlas with Weiss doing Schnee Dust Company official business, or at least hanging onto Weiss as arm candy as Weiss did Schnee Dust Company official business--and so she wouldn’t know if Yang decided to go back to the agency to get another job exactly one day after her last one ended. What Ruby didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. 

Yang could tell that Coco knew about the promise by the way she cocked an eyebrow at Yang’s entrance into the office. “Don’t,” Yang said, before Coco could get started. “I’m one of your best, you can’t turn me away if I ask for an assignment.” 

“True,” Coco said easily, shrugging as she grabbed files from the drawer in front of her. “But for the record, I really do think Ruby’s right. Taking a month off won’t kill you. In fact I’d even give you a paid vacation. Sit under an umbrella on the beaches of Mistral, throw back some fruity drinks with little umbrellas, and check out cute boys and girls in their swimsuits. You deserve it.” 

As nice as the image sounded, and it did sound nice, Yang pushed it away. She would get bored of that within a day, and sex on the beach just ended with sand in places where there should never be sand. Working was one of the only things that really excited her anymore--getting paid to punch people in the face was a great way to ignore any and all other issues one might have. Reclining on the beach? Not so much. 

“I’ll pass,” Yang said. “What do you have? Anything interesting?” 

Coco grinned then, and her eyes lit up. As much as she talked about taking vacations, Yang knew that their line of work was just as exciting for her as it was for Yang. That was one of the reasons she had even started to work for Coco and Velvet in the first place. 

Coco stroked the blue folder with a light hand. “This one’s a doozy. The mayor himself--and all his political backers, aka all the fat cats on top and their puppet--has requested this job.” 

Yang whistled. “The mayor? Really?” 

“Yeah. Apparently someone--the mayor thinks that it’s many someones, more White Fang wannabees coming back from the dead, but if you pay attention to the evidence it’s easy to catch that it’s only one person--is has been giving them trouble. Stealing important information, stopping corruption, that sort of thing. It's been going on for months apparently. None of his goons can catch whoever this is, and that’s where we come in.”

“So basically I need to help the mayor of Vale remove a giant pain in his ass?” 

“Precisely. Think you can handle this?” 

Yang snorted. “Of course. Give me that file.” 

Coco handed it over, but didn’t let go, even when Yang tugged. “Before I do, will you at least think about listening to your sister--and your boss--and take a vacation?”

Yang sighed. “Fine...I’ll think about it. After the job.” 

Coco let go of the file. “Good,” she said. “Now get out of here, and don’t come back until you finish this.” 

“You got it, boss lady.” 

 

According to their file, this person's MO was to go and hang out in alleyways before doing whatever pain in the ass thing they felt like they had to do that night and disappearing like smoke. They didn’t hurt anyone that wasn't explicitly involved in whatever was going on, and they rarely broke the law. They toed the line sometimes, and there were at least four broken bones in their rap sheet, but the reports implied that there was always a reason for this kind of force, and they never went a step beyond. 

All in all, Yang would probably have helped this person if she wasn't being paid to catch them. As it was, though, she was being paid, and this person would have to face whatever punishment or rehabilitation was going to be forced their way. 

Yang decided to hang around on rooftop until she saw something interesting happening. This person came out almost every night like clockwork, and since Yang had the advantage of surprise, she had to be sure to get them tonight and be done with it. This job paid well, and even if it didn't Yang would have taken it because it was one of the more interesting jobs that had come through Coco and Velvet's agency in a while. 

Yang wanted to meet this person who made life hell for the shady upper crust of Vale. 

 

The worst part of Yang's job was the waiting. The fights were incredible. The occasional travel was a great perk. But the waiting. There was always so much waiting. People who had to be hauled in typically sensed traps, and so Yang always had to be more cautious than she was naturally inclined.

Yang waited until it was past midnight before letting herself feel frustrated. Nothing was happening. Not even the sky was interesting, clear and filled with light pollution that Yang was sure covered a beautiful quilt of stars. Even jumping around on rooftops got boring when there was nothing exciting happening on the ground. 

The hour was slowly inching to two in the morning before Yang decided to just call it quits for the night. Whoever this pain in the ass was, they weren't coming tonight. She would have to come back tomorrow. 

Yang was about to head for a rooftop closer to home when she heard a commotion in the alley below. She figured it was another purse snatching or attempted assault--she had stopped three of those tonight already--when the hooded figure kicked a man wearing a suit in a way that was obviously trained. It wasn't the kick of a petty criminal, based on pure instinct and desperation. No, this was someone who knew what they were doing, and they were good at it. 

For the first time all night, Yang grinned. This was the pain in the ass. Their file said that they wore a black hood, and though the light from the street lamps was dim this far into the alley, Yang could tell that the hood was black. 

The black hood was rearing back to punch the guy in the suit when Yang jumped down from her perch on the fire escape and called, "Mind me jumping in?" 

Black hood turned to her, and Yang could tell that they knew that she was trouble from the way their entire body stiffened up. There was a tense moment of silence, some kind of weird energy charging between them for the length of a heartbeat, before they took off.

They were fast, Yang had to give them that. But unfortunately for them, Yang was faster. She had gotten very good at catching the people that ran from her. 

It was obvious that this person knew their way around, but so did Yang. She wasn't going to let their five second head start hinder her any. This part of Vale was made up of interlocking streets with neat and tight city blocks, to resemble a square maze. There would come a moment where this person would take a wrong turn and Yang could cut across to grab them. 

She got her moment soon enough. Hood took a left on a long block, and Yang kept going straight ahead. At this point they were two projectiles, on route to collide into each other. 

When they crashed it hurt, but Yang managed to maintain the advantage. She landed on top, and stayed there even as they skid on the ground. It was lucky they were both fully covered, otherwise they both would have gotten some sidewalk burn. 

They tried to struggle underneath Yang's thighs, but she was too strong for that. When Yang finally gave them an inch to sit up, their chest heaving, the hood that had been covering their face fell off. 

Blake Belladonna looked Yang straight in the face, eyes wide with surprise and fear. 

Yang scrambled off of her, barely realizing that she had done it. Her response to seeing Blake’s face for the first time was immediate, visceral. She felt herself begin to blaze, hair and skin glowing, eyes turning red. She hadn’t gone into that kind of state on instinct in years. She usually had so much control over this now, but seeing Blake was just like being seventeen all over again. 

Yang felt just as hurt, just as heartbroken, and most importantly, just as _angry_ , as she had been when Blake had left. It had cut her deep, her partner leaving her, and the wound had never completely healed. Blake had been the person that Yang trusted the most, outside of her family. Yang had _let_ herself trust Blake, had believed in her, but Blake left her anyway. 

_You’re not one to back down from a challenge, Blake_ , Yang had told her once, truly believing this. But Blake had backed down. Blake had ran, and Yang had never forgiven her for it. 

Yang had also never stopped loving her, but that was not the point. 

Blake’s eyes turned from fearful to pained. Somehow that made everything worse, seeing even the slightest bit of remorse on Blake’s face. “Yang-” she began, but Yang didn’t want to hear it. 

“Don’t,” she ground out, forcing herself to relax. She couldn’t go anywhere, glowing like a beacon the way she was. She had to get out of this state, and once the initial shock had passed, it was easier. But Yang was shaking, too many emotions bubbling up inside of her at once, and it showed on her skin in an awful way. 

She looked at Blake’s face and forced herself to calm down, even though that might not have been the right place to focus her attention. Once she felt like she was normal again, she allowed herself to speak. “Come on,” she said, and pulled Blake to her feet before heading somewhere that she knew was still open for at least another hour. 

Yang didn’t dare let go of Blake. She was afraid that if she did, Blake would vanish into thin air. Or she would wake up in her bed, all alone, this just being yet another dream where Yang finally got to see Blake again. Keeping a hold on Blake’s wrist kept her grounded in reality. The solid feeling of Blake’s bones, the beating of Blake’s pulse. They were things that she could never have imagined, in a dream. 

For her part, Blake didn’t resist. She just followed, not even trying to pull away. Yang was grateful for that, at least. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if Blake had tried to run away from her again. 

Now that she knew that Blake was in Vale, Yang would have ripped the city in two to find her again. Maybe Blake knew that, and that was why she didn’t try to leave. Either way, it didn’t matter. 

Once they got inside the bar, Yang finally felt as though she could let go. She went straight to the bar and hopped onto a stool, Blake following suit. Before either of them could say anything, the bartender came over. 

“Yang!” Jade said, smiling at her. They had spoken a few times before, and he was a nice enough guy. Yang was a regular enough customer around here, though it wasn’t exactly her favorite place in town to grab a drink. “What will it be tonight?” 

“Vodka tonic, but hold the tonic.” 

“...that’s just a glass of vodka. You want me to pour you a glass of vodka?” 

“Jade, just get me my drink.” 

“One glass of vodka coming right up,” Jade said. “And for you?” he asked Blake, once he slid Yang’s drink to her. 

“Water, thank you,” Blake said hurriedly. Jade reached under the bar and grabbed her a bottle of water, before moving on to other customers. He obviously knew better than try to flirt his way into a good tip tonight. 

Yang drank the entire glass of vodka in one gulp. It burned going down her throat, but she ignored it, not even coughing. She had burned earlier, but this kind of burning was much easier to deal with. 

“Yang, I-” Blake started again. Yang didn’t want to let her finish. 

“You need to stop.” 

“Stop what? I’m-”

“Whatever you’re doing to get people’s attention. You need to stop. I was hired to find you, but-” Yang looked at her empty glass, and wished the vodka fairy, or at least Jade, would come and refill it. The urge to get drunk enough that Blake was nothing more than a blur was so, so tempting. “Anyway, the next person they send after you won’t be as nice as me.” 

Yang wished that she could have turned Blake in and have been done with it, but she also knew that it would never happen that way. Blake was still Blake and Yang was still Yang and no matter what happened, after the things they’d been through together, there was no way she would be the one to hand Blake over to the authorities. 

“I can’t stop. Not yet.” 

Yang scoffed. Of course Blake couldn’t, and of course she wouldn’t elaborate. “Fine. Do what you want. I warned you. My conscience is clean.” 

She jumped off the barstool and left some lien for the drink and started to walk away. She wanted to just leave Blake the same way that Blake left her, only she’d make sure that Blake watched her go instead of just being gone the next morning, the way that Blake had left her, missing both her arm and her best friend. 

She would have left. But then she heard Blake speak again, and she stopped despite herself. 

“I’ve almost got him. Adam, I mean. I’m following his trail and I’m so, _so_ close. I’m going to put an end to the destruction he’s wrought. To stop him from hurting anyone ever again.” 

If Blake had said anything else, Yang would have kept walking. If Blake had any other excuse in the entire world for what she was doing, Yang would not have turned around the way that she did, and sat back down on the barstool that she had previously occupied. 

But it was Adam, and Adam was the person that Yang hated more than any other in the world. He had cut off her arm, which was enough for Yang to hate him, but he had also hurt Blake, which was the worse sin by far. 

She had gone through the memory so many times that whenever she thought about him she could feel the heat from the flames, and hear Blake’s scream. She could feel the way her arm had been sliced off before her aura had been activated, knocking her out and keeping her wound from bleeding. Without meaning to she reached up and touched the place where her arm ended and her prosthetic began. 

“Talk. Now,” Yang said. 

Blake looked around the bar. “I can’t. Not here. It’s not safe to talk out loud like this. You never know who’s listening.” 

Yang nodded. She had counted at least seven people who had walked in after she and Blake, and Adam, as the leader of the White Fang, before it had been disbanded and reformed, would have had a wide network. Anyone could be listening and let something slip. “Okay, so where are you staying?”

“What?” 

“We can talk about this at your place, where it’s safe. So, where are you staying?”

Blake began to fiddle with the lid of her water bottle, twisting it this way and that before finally looking up at Yang again. “I don’t really have a place to stay. I move around a lot, spend a lot of time in alleys or abandoned warehouses.”

“Wait, are you saying that you’ve been in Vale for months--because that’s what your file said, you’ve been here for _months_ \--and you don’t have a place to stay?” 

“Being a vigilante doesn’t exactly pay well,” Blake shrugged. “I get by.” 

No, no. That wasn’t happening. Not on Yang’s watch. 

Coco always said that if Yang was going to die on the battlefield, it would be because she was trying to protect someone she cared about. Yang was never going to disagree with that. It was why she worked solo most of the time, deciding not to choose another partner after Blake. She would do anything, anything at all, for the people that she loved. 

And Blake, no matter how much time had passed or whatever happened between them, would always be one of those people. 

“Come on,” Yang said, standing up again. “Let’s go.” 

“Go where?”

“Back to my place,” Yang said. “You can stay there until this mission of yours is finished and then you can go wherever you want.” 

“Yang-”

Yang whirled around. “No,” she said. “I can’t...I can’t be worried about you. And you need a place to sleep. So just stay, for now.” 

Blake scanned Yang’s face. “Okay,” she said finally. “Okay. I’ll stay. For now.” 

 

Blake walked into Yang and Ruby’s apartment slowly, scanning everything as if she was expecting something to jump out of the walls and attack her. After a moment all the tension in Blake’s shoulders relaxed, and she looked around the apartment like a friend who was visiting for the first time. 

The decor was a bit fancier than anything Yang or Ruby would have come up with honestly--Weiss had redecorated for them a couple of years ago, right before she and Ruby had gotten together officially. Because the Weiss Schnee way of dealing with things that involved both romantic feelings and uncertainty was to choose something to micromanage and take charge of until it met her standards and specification--but it was still nice and homey, in Yang’s opinion. She had just cleaned up recently too, so it was perfectly inviting.

“You can have the couch,” Yang said. “I’d give you Ruby’s room, but she still has some of her boxes in there because she isn’t fully moved out yet. It’s really soft, I swear, even if it doesn’t look like it.” 

“Thanks,” Blake said, voice quiet. It was probably wishful thinking, but Yang swore that she heard something wistful in Blake’s voice. Something like regret. She didn’t know what to make of that. “I really appreciate you letting me stay with you. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Yeah, I kind of did.” Yang shrugged. “The shower is to your left. I’ll leave some clothes for you outside the door. They might be a little big on you, but they’ll be fine to sleep in.” 

“Don’t you...want to talk first?” 

“We can talk in the morning, when we’re both not dirty and tired. You will be here in the morning, right?” Yang inwardly cringed at the way her voice sharpened at the end. She didn’t mean to sound like that, but she couldn’t completely remove the edge. She was still angry, still hurt, and she still didn’t trust Blake not to bolt the minute that Yang turned her back. 

“I’ll be here,” Blake said, making sure to catch Yang’s gaze. She was the one to finally break the eye contact when she made her way to the restroom. 

As soon as the door closed, Yang completely deflated. She sat on the couch, head in her hands, and heard the water running as Blake made her way around their bathroom. Then she got up and went to find the clothes that she had promised her. 

 

Yang was putting the extra pillows and blankets on the couch for Blake when Blake came out of the bathroom, still drying the ends of her hair with a towel. 

She was still so gorgeous. It was unfair, how gorgeous she was. If anything, Blake had gotten more beautiful over the years. Her face had sharpened, and her eyes had gotten brighter. She had grown into herself--they all had--and it suited her. Blake was striking now, the kind of face that made you stop and take second glance. 

Yang had noticed that earlier, out on the street, but it was impossible to ignore now, when Blake looked so soft and warm, and smelling like Yang’s bodywash, straight out of the shower. Yang was sure that if she touched Blake now she would feel the heat from the hot water on still Blake’s skin. She clenched her fingers around the fabric of the blankets instead. 

“Here,” she said, handing them to Blake, for lack of anything else to do with her hands. 

“Thanks.” 

Awkwardness hung in the air between them, thick and suffocating. Yang was never good with awkward--either she ended the awkwardness with a quip or extracted herself as soon as possible. She felt like she couldn’t do either of these things now. Blake would know exactly what she was doing. 

“Well...goodnight,” she said finally. 

“Goodnight,” Blake replied, clutching the blankets and pillow tighter to her chest. 

Yang was pretty sure she heard Blake sigh in relief when she finally walked away. 

 

Once a significant amount of time had passed, and Yang was confident that Blake was asleep on the couch, she went into her bedroom and called Coco. 

Coco answered after one ring. “Wow. Finished already? The mayor’s going to be-”

“I’m going to need some time,” Yang cut her off. “This job just got a little more complicated.”

“...how complicated are we talking? Like level one ursa complicated, or the White Fang really is back complicated?”

Yang wasn't sure how to answer this. “Blake Belladonna kind of complicated,” she said finally. 

There was silence on the other side of the line. Yang was about to look at her scroll and make sure Coco hadn't hung up on her before she finally spoke. “Okay. Ex-girlfriend complicated. Got it.”

“Blake was never my girl-”

“I know,” Coco said, voice sharp. Yang could tell that she was talking with her hands now, even if she couldn't see her. She could imagine perfectly the irritated way Coco had her hand on her hip. “But she almost was. Blake Belladonna was your almost something, and we both know that's worse.”

Yang said nothing, knowing that Coco was right. She had never gotten closure over Blake, and so part of her heart still burned for her. Yang had never been able to extinguish it, even when she had tried. 

Coco sighed. “Okay. Take as much time as you need. But after this is finished? You're taking that damn vacation.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, i could not write this story without mori. she is a dirty, dirty enabler. 
> 
> also, this chapter has sex in it! if that's not your thing it starts at "“You can kiss me, if you want..." and ends at "And then Yang fell over..."

Here’s the thing: Yang couldn't sleep that night. 

Even though she was exhausted after everything that had happened that night: waiting around on rooftops, chasing after Blake, and then all that happened once she was caught. Yang couldn't force herself to relax enough to go to bed. She tossed and turned, never able to get comfortable. 

She knew that what she was really waiting for was the sound of the front door opening. She wasn't sure what she would have done if she had heard the telltale squeak that the landlord had never gotten around to fixing for them. Would she have come out and confronted Blake and tried to stop her? Or would she have just let Blake go, and woken alone the next morning the way that she had ten years ago? 

She couldn't decide on what option was the most appealing, and it was one that, in the end, Yang didn't have to answer. 

When Yang decided it was finally a reasonable hour to be up, she walked out to find Blake sitting on the couch, blankets neatly folded and the pillow primly on top of them. Evidently she had been awake for a while. 

“You know, you're not exactly a guest. You can help yourself to whatever,” Yang said, waving a hand over the kitchen. 

Blake padded to the bar overseeing the counter so lightly that Yang could barely hear her footsteps. “I don't know where anything is,” she said, shrugging. “I didn't want to make a mess.” 

For the first time, Yang understood Blake’s wistfulness from before they had gone to sleep. If things had turned out the way they were supposed to, following the normal path that they would have taken, more than likely Blake would know this kitchen. She would know exactly where the spoons were kept, and the blender, and would feel more than comfortable making herself some tea from the assorted bags they had in a jar on the counter. 

But Yang didn't want to picture that, or imagine similar scenarios, so she stomped on the image, hard enough that it was left in shards still sharp enough to cut. There was no point thinking about this, since it would never come to pass. Much like Yang had not allowed herself to consider why the reasons Blake would have left, she did not even let herself consider that ever being a whisper of a possibility. They had both made their choices, and this was their reality. 

“Do you want anything in particular for breakfast?” Yang asked instead of thinking about it. 

Blake shook her head. “Whatever you’re having is fine,” she said. She hovered awkwardly, fidgeting as she watched Yang prepare to cook. 

“Uh...plates are in that cabinet over there, and the forks and knives are in the drawer under that if you want to get them out for me,” Yang said, just to give Blake something to do. 

Yang popped some toast in the toaster and started to crack the eggs to be scrambled, trying not to be obvious about the fact that she was watching Blake. For her part, Blake just did what she was told, getting out the plates and utensils and moving them over to the bar overlooking the counter where she and Yang would eat. 

Once they were all done setting up breakfast, and Yang was sitting on the barstool next to Blake, she realized that awkwardness had begun to hover again. She wasn’t going to let it choke them this time. 

But before she could, Blake opened her mouth. “So...what have you been doing for the past ten years?” 

Yang couldn’t help the wry grin that appeared on her face. “Well...I stayed in Patch for a few months, before I went to go get my prosthetic,” Yang brought the fingertips of her real hand to it, feeling the smooth coolness of the metal underneath them. “I had to train to get used to it, of course, but after that I went to look for my mom for a couple of years. Once I found her I decided to come back to Patch. But I couldn’t stay in Patch anymore...I had outgrown it, by then. I needed something bigger, you know? It’s like they say, you really can’t go home again. Ruby asked me to come stay with her, so I came back to Vale. I looked for work. But most of the reputable agencies looking for huntresses wouldn’t hire me. No one wants to have the girl that broke an innocent boy’s leg on worldwide television on their payroll. It looks bad for business. And then Coco and Velvet were opening up their own operation, a little rougher than most of the places that hire hunters and huntresses, but it pays the bills, and I’m good at it. I mostly go looking for criminals that normal people can’t find but...I guess I’m not as good as it as I say I am, seeing as how you’re sitting here eating breakfast with me instead of behind bars.” 

Yang shrugged, and turned to her toast. She could survive not getting paid for this job, and it wasn’t like Coco and Velvet were going to fire her, so if it had to happen it happened. She was about to ask what _Blake_ had been doing, and get her to talk about Adam, but it was as if Blake sensed that and asked another question. 

“And what about...everyone else?” 

“Well.” Yang thought about it, and wondered who exactly Blake would want updates on. Or if she had contacted anyone at all. Probably not, if she was asking about how they were doing now, and what had happened to them. “Ruby and Weiss are getting married next year, so Ruby is moving to Atlas. Sun and Neptune are in Vacuo, Neptune has retired as a hunter and now he’s acting. He’s pretty good. Looks cool when he’s being paid to do it. Coco’s currently running the company alone right now because Velvet can’t work since their baby is due in a few months. Ren and Nora live in Patch now, but they work whenever and wherever they can. And Jaune and Pyrrha are married. They just celebrated their seventh anniversary last month. Pyrrha’s moms threw a party for them.” 

Blake’s eyes widened. “Seventh? Wow, so they must have gotten married...” Blake trailed off, doing the math. 

“When they were twenty, yeah. There was a huge thing about it, everyone said they were too young. But they got a second chance, and didn’t see the point of wasting time.” 

Yang had gone to the wedding with Ruby and Weiss. Pyrrha had been wearing gold and they’d both been crying through their tears as they said their vows. It had been a beautiful wedding, like something out of a fairytale, and it had made Yang believe in love again. 

“A second chance, huh.” Blake said. “That sounds nice.”

“Yeah,” Yang agreed, after a beat. “They can be.” 

They ate the rest of breakfast in silence. 

 

Once the dishes were done and the stove was wiped down and there was literally nothing else to talk about, Yang decided to tackle the pink polkadot elephant in the room. 

“So. What were _you_ doing for ten years?” 

One of Blake’s ears twitched, but otherwise she didn’t show any kind of reaction to Yang’s words. “I’ve...” Blake paused. “I’ve been looking for Adam,” she said finally. “And I helped take down the White Fang in the process.” 

“That was you?” Yang asked. The White Fang’s downfall had been a huge story, and success, all across Remnant. Their fall had caused dust to fly up in the wake of it, and Yang had been supplied with work for years because of it. 

“It wasn’t just me but...yes. I helped. I also helped to rehabilitate the White Fang members that wanted to be rehabilitated.” 

“And through all of that, you couldn’t find Adam?” 

“No. Even though the White Fang was important to him--to us--after I left, well. Me leaving the White Fang, leaving _him_ was personal. He told me that he wanted to destroy everything that I loved. Taking down the White Fang was just a step in making sure that he couldn’t.” 

“And so now?” 

“Now...” Blake paused. “Now I’m so close. _So_ close to finding him again. And finally stopping him for good.” 

“But why are you here?” Yang demanded. “Why did you come back to Vale? Is Adam here?” The fact that Adam might be that close made rage simmer in the bottom of Yang’s stomach. 

Blake shook her head. “No, I’m in Vale because I owe the guy that has a lead on Adam a few favors. That’s why I’ve been wearing a black hood to go out and break some bones.” 

“Four.” 

“What?” 

Yang grinned. “You’ve only broken four bones. I read your file, remember?” 

Blake rolled her eyes. “Fine then. That’s why I’ve broken four bones.”

“So...how many more bones do you have to break before you get the info that you want?” 

“There’s only one more thing on my list that my contact needs me to do, and then he’ll give me my information.” 

Yang leaned forward on the bar, moving so that her face was closer to Blake’s. “And this guy, you’re sure he’s real? This seems shady, Blake.” 

Blake shrugged. She didn’t move back, staying exactly where she was even with Yang’s closer proximity. “It’s an even trade, and I did owe him. Besides, I’d do anything to stop Adam.” 

Even spend ten years of your life looking for him, Yang thought, but didn’t say. Seeing the way Blake clenched her fists, she decided it was better not to. Besides, who was she to judge how someone spent their time? She had spent the past ten years punching her way out of her feelings.

“When’s your next job? I want in.” 

“What?” Blake’s eyes flashed to Yang’s face. 

“I want to stop Adam too.” 

“Yang, I don’t think-” 

“Blake,” Yang began. “He took my arm. He worked with the enemy to make Beacon fall. He was, from what I’ve been able to gather, a violent and hateful extremist. And...he hurt you. He hurt one of my _friends_ , and who knows how many other people, so why the hell wouldn’t I want to help stop and find him?” 

Blake’s eyes were wide, and she looked as though she hadn’t expected Yang to say this. LIke she couldn’t have imagined that Yang would feel this way about Adam, too. She was quiet for a long moment, and Yang could recognize the look on her face. She was wrestling with herself, trying to make a decision. The entire time she did it, she was looking at Yang’s face, like she would find her answer there. 

Yang kept her expression still, not wanting to give Blake any doubt about her sincerity. 

“Okay,” she said finally. “Okay. The next, and last, job that I need to do is happening in four days.” 

“Four days?” Yang asked. She hadn’t expected this to take so long. No wonder Blake had been in Vale for months. “What are we supposed to do in the meantime?” 

“Well...I wouldn’t mind going to get the rest of my clothes,” Blake said. 

“I can give you a ride, if you want,” Yang offered. She tried to stamp down the little voice in her mind that said the only reason she was saying this was because there was still a small part of her that didn’t trust Blake to just vanish the moment Blake was out of her sight. 

Blake smiled a little. “Yeah,” she said. “That would be nice.” 

 

“What happened to Bumblebee?” Blake asked in the parking garage, when she saw Yang’s new bike. 

“Raven totaled her,” Yang shrugged. She ran a hand over Nightshade’s sleek black surface. “She probably wouldn’t have made it this long anyway, but she was a good one.” Yang sighed. “I miss her, sometimes.”

“Your mom _totaled_ your bike?” 

Yang threw Blake a helmet, which she caught easily, still looking at Yang. “Yeah, during my wild goose chase to find her.”

“Wow, your mom doesn’t pull any punches.” 

“You can say that again.” 

Yang swung her leg over Nightshade, and felt it come to life underneath her fingertips. Blake slid up behind her, and immediately wrapped her arms around Yang’s waist. 

Blake yelled out an address that was somewhere in the warehouse district. Yang followed her directions, thankful that she could still hear Blake over the wind. And if she might have taken her turns sharper than was particularly necessary, just to feel Blake squeeze her tighter, well. No one had to know. 

 

Time over the next four days passed strangely. What was also strange was how seamlessly Blake managed to fit herself into Yang’s life. Part of it might have been that Yang wasn’t working, so they spent most of their time training at the gym down the street, or watching movies and eating take out. 

When Yang wasn’t worrying about her disappearing, Blake was a comfortable presence in Yang’s life. The more time Blake spent with her, the more Yang’s anger faded. It wasn’t totally forgotten--how could it be, after ten years?--it was just more that Yang allowed herself to let it go, slowly and surely. 

But Yang couldn’t make everything go away. They never talked about anything important, usually commenting on each other’s form or the movie or something that they had seen on the screen. Maybe they should have talked more, maybe that would have been healthier, but Yang couldn’t think of what to say or even how to start that situation, so she didn’t. Blake never started any discussion either, seeming fine with how things were, about the conversations they needed to have never being given a voice. 

And sometimes Yang woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, and would make sure to walk into the living room, to make sure that Blake was still sleeping there. 

She always was. 

 

The job, when it came, was simple enough. Stop a shipment of illegal goods from being transported to their location. Leave the goods themselves wherever they fell, and they would be taken care of. 

It definitely sounded more like something that Team RWBY would have handled back at Beacon than anything that Yang now did for her professional job. 

“Are you sure this is it?” Yang asked when Blake told her. 

“Yes. The jobs have never been very hard, just very annoying for the people whose plans I foil.” Blake shrugged, looking in the mirror one last time before turning to Yang. “It makes sense that the last one wouldn’t be any more difficult than that.” 

“If you say so,” Yang said. She went very still when Blake reached out to her, black on her fingers. Blake had insisted on both of them wearing the eyeblack she had in her trash bag of belongings around their eyes tonight, to help preserve their identities. Yang had agreed because it would be annoying to deal with one of the grunts recognizing her as someone that worked for Velvet and Coco for something like this. 

Yang’s breath hitched a little when Blake’s fingers touched her face, but Blake didn’t seem to notice. She was too focused on the task at hand to notice Yang’s reaction to her proximity. 

Yang only had to lean over a little to kiss Blake, if she wanted to. Blake was close enough that Yang could feel her breath on her face, and the heat from her skin. It would have been so easy, and with Blake this close Yang had a little trouble remembering why that was a bad idea. 

Blake paused in her work, fingertips on Yang’s cheeks, and she stared at Yang for the length of a heartbeat. Yang felt herself moving forward just a bit, unable to resist. But before Yang could act on any impulses she might have had, Blake turned away. She wiped her fingers on one of the washcloths she had brought out from the kitchen. 

“Let’s go,” she said, and Yang had no choice but to follow her out the door. 

 

The job might have been easy, but there was still too much waiting involved for Yang’s liking. “You’re _sure_ your contact said today?” Yang asked, sitting on the edge of the roof. Her feet dangled over the edge, and she kicked uselessly at the air. They had been waiting for four hours now, with not even a hint of something interesting happening. 

“Yes,” Blake sighed, for the third time. “I don’t know why this is taking so long.” 

Yang opened her mouth to complain again when she saw a movement in the corner of her eye. Blake saw it too, and for a moment the two of them looked at each other, before they both nodded once. They both knew what to do. 

Yang made sure that she had the timing correct before she jumped off the ledge and onto the hood of the truck. Blake landed far less dramatically on the cab, and started hacking her way through the plastic tarp covering the cargo. 

“Easy, boys.” Yang smiled at the truck driver, easy as you please. When the man in the passenger seat raised his gun, Yang reared back and punched a hole in the windshield. “Don’t get any ideas,” Yang said, crushing the gun with her prosthetic. It made a sickening, satisfying, crunching sound. “You aren’t going to be able to stop us.” 

And in the end, they couldn’t. 

 

Yang was still laughing when they got back to her apartment, adrenaline pumping in her veins. “That was amazing,” she said, leaning against the wall in the hallway. “Did you see his face? He looked like he was about to explode.” 

Blake wasn’t laughing, but she was smiling in the kind of way that Yang knew that she was highly amused too. Ten years might have passed, but that smile was still the same, even if it was on a face that wasn’t the same one Yang had known all those years ago. 

Yang’s eyes caught onto Blake’s, and she wasn’t able to look away. Her heartbeat slowed and she stopped laughing, and with that the mood shifted from something high energy and hilarious to more languid, a heat and thickness in the air that wasn’t there before. 

Yang wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she knew that she didn’t want to break whatever was happening. She had been with Blake again for only four days, and she already felt this way again. She had been with Blake again for only four days, but sometimes it was like no time had passed, and her heart beat just as strongly for Blake as it had then. She had been Blake again for only four days, and whatever love for Blake that Yang had kept in her heart had began to blaze into flames once again. 

“You can kiss me, if you want,” Blake said, her voice silencing Yang’s thoughts. She didn’t look away from Yang at all, or make any movements. She just said it, like a simple offering, like it was nothing. 

“What?” Yang said, knowing that she heard Blake, but wanting to know if she would say it again, a distant part of her wondering if this was really real. 

Blake said nothing, but she lifted her chin, a silent gesture that Yang knew meant plenty. 

Yang closed the space between them in two steps, two quick movements, and then she was kissing Blake the way she had wanted to ever since she was seventeen years old. Yang’s hands went up to Blake’s face, and under her fingertips was something precious that Yang had been reaching for for years. She might have grabbed on a little too tightly, a little too desperately, but Blake didn’t break away or seem to mind, so Yang just kept holding on. 

Blake pushed back, making Yang take a step back as she wrapped her arms around Yang’s neck. Yang opened her mouth and Blake deepened the kiss immediately, making it wet and slick, pushing their bodies together so that Yang could feel every inch of her. 

Yang was not a quiet kisser, and the more that she made noise the more that Blake seemed to respond. Every time Yang moaned or gasped, Blake just kissed her harder, as if she wanted to capture every sound that Yang made with her own mouth. 

Yang wasn’t sure how long they kissed, but she could feel how much it was affecting her, and Blake too. Yang removed one of her hands from Blake’s face and slid it down her neck, over her breast and waist, all the way to the front of her pants. 

She broke away from a moment to see what Blake’s reaction would be, but Blake just stared at her, with eyes that were steady and not the least bit unsure. “Yes,” she said, after a beat, and so Yang leaned back in and kissed her, hard, one more time, before dropping to her knees. She pushed Blake up against the wall, before unbuttoning her pants and making quick work of them and her underwear.

Blake helped, getting her shoes off and stepping up when Yang managed to slide her pants all the way down their legs, kicking them to the side and then sending them flying somewhere into the darkness that was over the rest of Yang’s apartment. 

For better access, Yang grabbed the back of Blake’s thigh, and threw her leg over her shoulder. She looked up at Blake one last time, and Blake reached out to touch Yang’s face before sliding her fingers into her hair. 

Yang went to town, noticing how wet Blake was already. She licked a straight line up Blake’s slit, and heard her make a choked, aborted noise. Yang looked up, to see what the reaction was, but Blake wasn’t looking at her. Instead her eyes were staring at something in the distance, like she was trying not to react at all. That wouldn’t do. 

“Hey,” Yang said, shaking Blake’s leg a little. Blake looked down at her, and Yang licked her again, slow and filthy, keeping eye contact the entire time. 

“Oh, God,” Blake whispered. The hand that was still in Yang’s hair tightened a little, and that’s when Yang began to try in earnest, finding Blake’s clit and using it to her advantage. She wasn’t sure what Blake liked, so she tried everything, and listened to Blake to the sounds Blake made in response. 

Blake didn’t seem to want to make noise, but that was fine for now. Yang would get some out of her now, and later, when they could take their time Yang would make her scream. But for now, when they had limited time and were in the hallway, it was just about getting Blake off. 

Blake seemed to like it when Yang licked slow, broad strokes, and so she did, over and over again, until Blake stopped being able to stop the noises in her throat and and just let them out. Listening to Blake make noises, even when she didn’t want to, just because Yang was that good, was a reward in and of itself. Yang could feel want pulse through her, just listening to Blake, just from trying to make Blake come. 

When Yang could feel Blake’s muscles being to flutter, starting to come, she went slowly over Blake’s clit, faster this time, until it was too much and Blake came. “Oh, God, Yang,” she choked out, and then moaned. The noise that she made was the loudest of the night, and she slid from leaning against the wall into a puddle on the ground. 

Yang wanted to get off so bad, so she began to strip off her pants as well, cursing herself for trying to show off and deciding to wear leather. Leather pants were the worst for sexy situations, especially after she had sweat some. 

She was tempted to just not even bother when Blake gathered herself, coming close enough to hover over Yang before she kissed her. Blake kissed her long and slow and deep, almost sweetly, as she grabbed Yang’s wrists and pulled her hands out of her underwear before leaning back and placing them back behind Yang’s head. 

“No,” she said, voice thick. “Let me.” She lifted Yang’s shirt over her head, tangling it up in Yang’s arms so that Yang couldn’t get free easily, before she made her way down with her hands, touching Yang all over. In one smooth motion, she took off Yang’s boots and then her pants, throwing them over her shoulder before coming up to kiss Yang again. 

Blake was acting as though they were on a bed instead of in the entrance of Yang’s apartment, slow, so slow, and it was driving Yang insane. She wanted to _come_ , wanted to scream, but Blake’s mouth was like sin and Yang couldn’t bring herself to mind. 

When Blake made her way down between Yang’s legs, she grinned. “Payback,” she said, and grabbed Yang’s thighs and went to work. Yang couldn’t help the noises she was making, the little chant of “Blake, Blake, _Blake_ ” every time Blake did something she particularly liked with her tongue. 

Blake seemed to already know all of Yang’s weakness. When Blake added a second finger to the first she had slid in, moving them in time with the way she was sucking on Yang’s clit, Yang was done. She came and she came _hard_ , feeling the warmth of an orgasm all the way up to her lower stomach. 

Blake didn’t pull away, still licking as Yang came down from her high. When Yang tried to sit up on her elbows to look, Blake pulled away to smile before spreading Yang wide open again and starting the process all over again. 

Normally, Yang loved the quick refractory period that came from having a vagina, but this was too much.

“Blake, I can't,” she breathed. 

Blake’s smile turned filthy. “Sure you can.” 

Yang had to lay back down, utterly weak, and Blake lifted up Yang’s hips herself to compensate. Blake curled her fingers, before adding a third and curling them again, hitting that spot that not many people had ever found in Yang, and she came again. 

This time, Blake pulled away. Yang’s come was smeared all over her mouth, but Yang didn’t care. She sat up and pulled Blake in, kissing her hard, tasting herself in Blake’s mouth, the two of them mingling together as their tongues touched. 

And then Yang fell over, spent, and pulled Blake with her. Blake came easily, landing on top of Yang. They were both breathing hard, and Blake’s weight was so much, but at the same time not enough, and Yang started to laugh again. She laughed, and she could feel Blake laughing too more than she could hear here, and the moment was somehow utterly and deliciously perfect. 

 

Once they were done laughing and catching their breath, they got up and gathered up all of their clothes and headed to the bathroom. “This is kind of gross,” Yang admitted, “but I’m too tired to shower right now. I kind of just want to wash my face and go to bed.” 

“Me too,” Blake said. “Unless, of course, you want to shower together?” Yang grinned in response. 

They really did just shower, the only difference between that shower and Yang’s regular showers was that Blake shampooed her hair, and that Yang had to make sure all of the eyeblack that they had put on that night was off her face. 

Blake was about to head back to the couch once they were both clean, but Yang caught her wrist before she could go. In a way, this was more vulnerable and fragile than having sex. Blake looked down at Yang’s hand before she looked up at Yang’s face. 

“Come to bed with me,” Yang finally managed to say. “You might as well, I mean...” she trailed off, unsure of what else she wanted to stay. Blake scanned her face, but whatever she was looking for didn’t seem to be there. 

“Okay,” Blake said. “Okay,” and she followed Yang into her room, where she slid under the sheets next to Yang. Without any fanfare at all Blake reached over and pulled Yang into her arms, the big spoon. 

This was nice, Yang found herself thinking. This was beyond nice. Usually she was the one that was the big spoon, but having Blake’s arms around her was nicer than she could have ever dreamed. She didn’t think she would get anything like this with Blake, but here they both were. Yang fell asleep with their fingers tangled together, and when she woke up in the morning she was still in Blake’s arms. 

 

The next night Blake had to go meet her contact. Yang waited outside the warehouse--always the warehouses with these people, Yang thought to herself--on Nightshade, waiting to be the getaway motorcycle. 

She was on edge the entire time, waiting for anything suspicious, but nothing happened. Blake simply went in and then came out. Nothing else happened. Nothing exploded, there was no betrayal, Adam truly wasn’t in Vale waiting for the perfect time to ambush Blake. Nothing happened. 

“Atlas,” Blake said, putting her helmet back on. “That’s what my contact told me. Adam is in Atlas.” 

“Atlas, huh?” Yang asked, and then sighed. “I guess that means that we need to call Weiss tomorrow...” 

 

Weiss’ secretary swore up and down that she told Weiss that Yang was calling, but Yang was sure that if Weiss knew it was her on the phone she wouldn’t have had to been on hold for fifteen minutes. Yang was about to just hang up and call Ruby when Weiss finally answered. 

“Yes, this is Weiss Schnee, who am I speaking to?” 

“Yang Xiao Long, your future sister-in-law,” Yang answered. 

“Yang? Why didn’t you just call my personal number?”

“Because when you’re at work you put that scroll on silent and forget that it exists,” Yang groused. “I saw you down here the last time the Schnee Dust Company had business in Vale, I don’t forget these things.” 

“That’s not strictly true,” Weiss huffed. “I always do my best to answer when Ruby calls, so I have gotten a lot better about this. Anyway, why _are_ you calling me in the middle of a work day? Did something happen?” 

“Blake and I-” 

“Blake’s with you?” Weiss interrupted, before Yang could continue. She sounded almost too happy about this, but then again, it was to be expected. Weiss hadn’t seen Blake for ten years either. 

“Yes.” Yang said, like this wasn’t surprising, like it was normal to be with Blake. “Anyway, Blake and I are on a mission together, and we’re heading up to Atlas. We were wondering if you had room for us to stay with you. We won’t be there for very long but it would still be nice.” 

“Don’t be ludicrous,” Weiss said, “of course you can stay with me. After all, I did stay at your father’s home in Patch for a year. And I did live with you and Ruby for a few years after that. You’re more than welcome at any Schnee property. You and Blake both, of course.” 

“Good to know. I might want to take you up on your offer for your beach house in Mistral once this mission is over.” 

“Before your mission, though, I was wondering if you and Blake would like to come to the party that I’m having to announce mine and Ruby’s engagement to the Atlesian society and the Schnee Dust Company shareholders. You two should be here the day before it happens.” 

“That’s fine,” Yang said. “We wouldn’t miss it. Especially not since this is my little sister’s engagement party. Of course her I’ll be there now that I can be.” 

“Good.” There was noise on the other side of the line, and it sounded very official. Yang was about to tell Weiss that maybe they should hang up, when Weiss said, “Blake will be okay with coming too, won’t she? I know how she tends to get about...missions.” 

“Don’t worry,” Yang assured her. “I can handle this.” 

 

“We don’t have time to go to a party,” Blake tried to argue, once Yang relayed what Weiss had told her. 

Yang sighed. She had known this was going to happen, she had known this like she knew that the sky was blue and that Sun had never met a shirt he actually liked. “Do you remember, when we were seventeen, and we had a conversation that was eerily identical to the one that we’re having right now? Do you remember how that conversation went down? Because I do, and it seems pretty much like this one is going to turn out just like it.” 

Blake frowned at her. “We don’t have _time_ , Adam could be-”

“You’ve waited ten years for this, Blake. Ten years. You can last three more days. As soon as we’re done with this party we can go find him. But this is important to Weiss, and to Ruby. They weren’t sure that I would be able to come, and they definitely didn’t think that you would be able to, so, please? Come to my sister and best friend’s engagement party with me?” 

Blake frowned harder for a split second before relenting. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll go to this party. You’re lucky I like you.” 

“You’re the best,” Yang said, and leaned in to kiss Blake without thinking about it. She wasn’t sure if that’s where they were yet. 

From the way Blake grabbed Yang’s waist and pulled her back in, she didn’t seem to mind. 

 

Getting to Atlas from Vale took two days. Movement between the kingdoms was still not as quick or efficient as it had been before the communication towers fell, and that meant longer travel times by airship simply because of regulations. 

Both Weiss and Ruby were waiting for them at the airship dock. Yang couldn’t stop the smile that graced her face at the sight of her sister. She hadn’t seen her for months now, and it was hard to think about the fact that Ruby would most likely not be coming back to Vale after she picked up the last of her things. 

Yang’s baby sister was growing up and getting married, almost like a real adult. It was strange to think about. When had they all become adults? 

“Yaaaaaaaaaaang,” Ruby called, when she saw Yang and Blake. She was waving her hand around frantically, narrowly missing hitting Weiss as she did so. 

“Ruuuuuuuuuby,” Yang answered, and when they were closer she threw out her arms and waited to catch Ruby in them. Using Ruby’s weight she spun them around one time, causing them both to laugh. 

“You two never change.” Weiss shook her head, the picture of disapproval, but there was a smile playing around her mouth that let Yang know that she was actually amused. 

“Well _you_ sure do,” Yang said, finally letting go of Ruby. Weiss had cut all of her hair off after her father had died and she had become the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, and had only recently let it grow out to her chin. “I like the hair.” 

“Thanks,” Weiss said. “You look well. And so do you, Blake. Aren’t you going to come say hello. We haven’t seen you in a while, you know?” 

“Blaaaaake,” Ruby yelled, and ran over to hug her too. “I’m so glad you’re here and that you’re okay.” 

Blake just smiled. “Of course I’m okay. We’re all okay. I knew we’d all be okay.” 

“Team RWBY back together and ready for action,” Ruby said. “This is one of the best things to happen in a long time. But um...hopefully we don’t have to be ready for too much action,” Ruby tacked on at Weiss’ sharp look. “Since you know...we have engagement-y stuff to do and all. Since we’re engaged. And announcing it. And stuff. But hopefully there’s a little action, since we haven’t been able to fight together for so long and-” 

“You’d better hope nothing interesting happens,” Weiss said. “At least not during the party. Anything after that is fair game.” 

 

The Schnee Manor was ridiculously huge and ridiculously opulent, and Yang was relieved when they drove right past it. “You’ll be staying with me and Ruby in our apartment, of course,” Weiss said. “The party will hosted there tomorrow, though. I just wanted to show you two where it would be held.” 

“Of course,” Blake nodded. She was looking out the window with an expression that Yang couldn’t read, and she knew much of it had to do with the way the Schnee family had made its fortune recently. Weiss had set things to rights the minute she took over, but some things couldn’t right past wrongs, or make them forgotten. 

Yang reached over and tangled her fingers with Blake’s. Blake looked away from the window to glance at Yang. She smiled softly, for a long moment, before looking back out the window to the Atlesian skyline. 

It turned out that Weiss and Ruby’s apartment was also ridiculously huge, taking up two stories and even had its own elevator. Rich people, Yang couldn’t help but thinking. Her childhood home back in Patch had been a fourth of the size of this altogether, and that had been for four people. 

Weiss and Ruby were good together. They had a system when it came to making dinner and entertaining guests, and Yang was sure that part of it came from back when they lived together, before Weiss’ father had been forced to accept her back into the family so that she could inherit the family business. 

Yang had watched them before, had even lived with them, but it was still amazing to her that they could love each other the way they did. They were In Love, capital letters, and Yang was so happy for her sister. She never would have thought in a million years that this would happen for the two of them, but it did, and she was glad. They deserved each other, in the best way possible. 

Weiss cooked and Ruby did whatever she felt like she needed to do to make life easier, which in this case was to open the wine and pour everyone a glass. They talked about Weiss and Ruby for a while--both of them wearing engagement rings even as they worked around the kitchen, Yang couldn’t help but notice, as if they couldn’t bear to take them off--and it was all pleasant and comfortable until it really, really wasn’t. 

“You know, I was telling Ruby that it was nice to see the two of you together,” Weiss said. “When Blake came to me last year, I really didn’t think that she-” 

All of the warm, fluffy feelings that Yang had felt from having her old team back together immediately drained from her, replaced by a cold achiness, one that filled her body and made it hard to move. 

“Last year?” Yang interrupted. Her voice was hard. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but at the same time it made a sick sort of sense. _Of course she wouldn’t come to you first_ , a voice inside of her whispered. Yang did her best to ignore it, so she could save present in this situation. “You saw Blake last year?” 

Weiss knew that she made a mistake the minute she saw the expression on Yang’s face. 

“Yes,” she replied slowly, clearly thinking about how to phrase this just right. “Blake contacted me last year, to help her with the mission that I assume you two are working on now, together. I told her that I would only help her and keep quiet about it if she promised to go and find you, though. So I had thought...” Weiss trailed off. 

“Blake didn’t come and find me. _I_ was the one that found _her_ ,” Yang said, feeling like an idiot. She turned to look at Blake, whose expression she couldn’t read. 

“The Schnee Dust Company has resources that aren’t available to the public, or even any other corporation in the world,” Blake said, by way of explanation. 

“Is that all you have to say?” Yang asked, voice low and scary, even to her own ears. Blake said nothing else. 

Yang couldn’t take this. She couldn’t take the way everyone around her was looking at her, and she couldn’t take the lies. She had to move, and so she stood up from her place at the table and walked out of the room. 

She had no idea where she was going. Ruby and Weiss’ apartment was too big, so she just made her way to a bedroom and closed the door behind her. This was all too much. 

When Yang had woken up without an arm and without her partner, she had felt winded at the realizations hitting her all at once. She could feel the same thing now. Blake didn’t trust her to find Adam with her. Blake, her partner, _her_ partner, had trusted Weiss more than she had trusted Yang. 

And of course she had. Who wouldn’t? Yang had tried to save Blake once, and she had failed, and lost an arm in the process. Of course anyone else would be better. 

Yang wished that they’d never had sex. With anyone else, sex wouldn’t have mattered. It would have just been something physical, something that happened after a fight with adrenaline pumping through their system. But Yang’s stupid, traitorous heart had thought that it had meant something more. The kisses and touches that they had shared after that didn’t help with this. 

Yang had wanted this to mean something so badly that she hadn’t even thought about the fact that maybe she wasn’t the only one that felt this way. She’d let her feelings cloud her judgement. Coco had always said that if she was going to fall on the battlefield, it would be because of her feelings for other people. Point taken, Coco. She’d remember that for next time. 

When the door opened, Yang didn’t even bother to turn around to see who it was. “Did you know?” Yang asked. “Did you know that Blake contacted Weiss?” 

“No,” her sister’s voice rang out. “I didn’t know. I’m not happy with Weiss about this either, but she didn’t mean to hurt anyone. She really did think that Blake was going to meet up with you once she gave Blake the information she needed.” 

Yang turned towards her sister. “I’m not mad at Weiss, not really. Could you go...tell her that for me?” 

“Okay,” Ruby said. “Thank you.” She paused for a moment, before opening her mouth. “But for what it’s worth, before all of this...it really was nice, having everyone around again. It’s been ten years,” Ruby said. “I think you should remember that.” 

“I can’t really forget it, Ruby,” Yang said, and Ruby took her leave. 

The next person that came into the room was Blake. Yang didn’t have to turn around to know that either, she could feel the change in the air instantly. 

“Yang,” Blake tried. Yang whirled around, wanting to see Blake’s face for this, wanting to see her expression as she tried to explain herself. “I was just doing what I needed to do. For the mission. To stop Adam. Weiss could help with that.” 

“And I couldn’t,” Yang said. “Of course I couldn’t. God, what was even the point of all this? What was the point of any of it?” Before Blake could answer, she continued on. She didn’t want to listen to Blake anymore, didn’t want to know what she had to say. She didn’t want to crumble. “Back at Beacon, I loved you. And when I woke up and saw that you were gone...I was so lost, Blake. And you were one of the only people that could have helped me. You were my partner. I _loved_ you, and you had to know it, but you didn’t even care, did you? You didn’t even _care_ , you still don’t care-” 

“Of course I cared!” Blake shouted back. “Of course I care now! I told you what Adam said. I told you that he told me that he would make it his mission to destroy everything I loved. And you know what, _he started with you_. So of course I ran. I wanted to protect you.” 

“Well you didn’t have to! I could have taken it. I would have, if it meant you were there too. You don’t always have to do things on your own. But that doesn’t explain why you were gone for ten years, why you went to _Weiss_ first instead of me. Me, your partner, who was there when Adam hurt us both. Ten years, and I heard not one word from you. You could have been dead for all I knew.”

“I wanted to do it on my own. It was my fault that anything happened to you in the first place. It was all my fault.” Blake’s voice broke, and Yang’s heart shattered along with it. She hated that seeing Blake like this hurt her this much, especially when she was so angry with her, but it did. “I didn’t want to get involved with you until he was gone, because I wanted to make sure that you stayed safe.” 

Yang could feel her eyes burning. She didn’t want to cry, but it was so hard, with Blake looking at her like that, her own eyes wet with tears. Yang fought against the quiver in her jaw to continue onward. She forced herself to look Blake in the face as she said her next few words.

“Well don’t worry. After this mission, after Adam is gone, you won’t have to bother yourself with my wellbeing. After this, I’m done. _We’re_ done.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, i want to thank mori for being this fic's #1 fan even when i was its number -20395820358 fan. and thanks to libby, and the rest of tl, for listening to me complain about writing it and reading the snippets that i posted. y'all are the mvps. for real. 
> 
> and i'm sorry this took so long to write, this got much longer than i expected.

Here’s the thing: when Weiss said party she apparently meant more of a ridiculously fancy ball than an actual fun party. 

Yang should have expected this, but she hadn’t, and now it was biting her in the ass in the form of the very pretty, very sparkly, very delicate golden dress that she was currently wearing. 

Blake looked gorgeous too, of course, even though Yang was trying her best to ignore it. Weiss had gotten Blake a dress too, and it was long and slinky and a purple dark enough to be black. Every time she turned her head something in her hair glittered, and it drew your eye to her. But what was most prominent was the fact that her hair was pulled back and set in a delicate chiffon on the base of her neck. 

Blake didn’t wear her bow anymore--Yang didn’t know why she didn’t, she had never asked, and since the bow had seemed like an attempt to disguise who Blake really was she was glad that it was gone--but her ears stood out more when her hair wasn’t hanging long and loose down her back. Blake, and by extension Weiss, since Weiss had invited her, was making a statement. 

Even though Yang was still angry at her, she couldn’t help but admire that anyway. 

Blake and Yang were seated at the front of the ballroom, where Ruby and Weiss would be sitting when they came down and finally announced their engagement. It was a place of honor, but mostly everyone was staring at them as they waited. 

Yang did her best not to fidget, or to do something to make herself a show worth watching the way the Atlesian upper crust was examining them both. She didn’t want to talk to Blake, who hadn’t even tried to talk to her in the entire day after Yang had found out that she had contacted Weiss first. 

Not that Yang wanted to talk to her. She told herself that over and over again. She didn’t want to talk to Blake, even though thinking about Blake was like a live wire, one that set off waves of pain and anger every time Yang brushed up against it. 

Still, Blake hadn’t even tried to talk to her. Or look at her. They had aggressively ignored each other and Weiss was right, it was ridiculous and childish, but Yang deserved _something_. She wasn’t going to be the one to break down first, and so they were at a stalemate at the front of this awful and awkward party that was not really a party, because Weiss was a lying liar.

When the music that announced Weiss and Ruby’s presence began, Yang sighed in relief. She turned her attention to Ruby and Weiss, who were holding hands as they walked down the steps leading to the Schnee Manor ballroom. 

Weiss didn’t let go of Ruby’s hand, even when they got to the front of the ballroom. “I want to thank everyone for coming,” she said, not even bothering with a microphone. The room was quiet and enraptured enough that everyone could hear her anyway. She was a vision in her white gown, and Ruby beside her in a striking red. 

As Weiss started to talk about Schnee Dust Company Official Boring Stuff, Yang’s heart flooded with affection for them both. She was so glad that they were going to be so happy, and that they had found their way to each other in the end. She chanced a glance at Blake and saw that she, too, was smiling softly at the both of them. 

“And,” Weiss said, when she was done with thanking the sponsors and backers and whoever else for their continued support, “in an attempt in continued openness and honesty of the Schnee Dust Company policies, I would like to announce to everyone here tonight that in nine months, I will be marrying Ruby Rose, and that we are very happily engaged.” 

There was silence for a single long and tense moment, but Weiss didn’t waver. She just continued to hold onto Ruby’s hand, and kept her polite, society lady smile in place, and waited. Weiss didn’t care what these people thought, Yang realized. She didn’t give a rat’s ass, and this was only a formality. Something that was traditional and acceptable, but not something that was going to define their life together. 

Ruby had to know all of this too. She knew Weiss inside and out, knew things about the people here and the atmosphere that Weiss had grown up in, and she didn't care either. She loved Weiss enough to deal with it, at whatever their lives threw at them. 

So Yang stood up from her uncomfortable chair and started to clap, and after only a beat Blake stood up and clapped beside her. The rest of the crowd joined in after that, and Yang felt like whooping was only appropriate. 

Weiss and Ruby turned around to find the source of the noise, but when they looked at her, they smiled. Yang smiled back at them, secure in their happiness. When Ruby and Weiss sat down, they were still smiling. 

 

About halfway through the ball, Weiss came up to both of them and hissed, “You two need to go out and dance. You look like freaks sitting up here doing nothing.” It was amazing how Weiss was able to yell and smile pleasantly at the same time. Yang was impressed despite herself. 

Weiss let Ruby whisk her away again, but she glared at Yang from across the dance floor. Yang sighed and was about to stand up and get some punch or something, when Blake turned towards her, and Yang froze in response. 

“Do you remember, when we were seventeen,” Blake began, and Yang recognized her own words being repeated back at her, “and we went to an event eerily identical to the one we’re at right now, and how I saved my first dance for you?” 

“Yes...” Yang said, narrowing her eyes at Blake. She wasn’t sure where exactly this was going. 

“Well, could I have your first dance again?” Blake asked, and she held out her hand. She held out her hand and Yang stared at it, unsure. She was still angry at Blake, but they still had to work together until Adam was taken care of. 

Slowly, Yang reached out and put her hand in Blake’s. This was just an extension of the mission, Yang told herself. This was just part of the mission and after the mission was over she would be completely done with Blake, just like she had told Blake, just like she had told herself. 

It was for the best anyway. Blake didn’t even trust her enough to come to her first about Adam, so what kind of future could be built on that? What kind of relationship? There was nothing left for them now, and so Yang ignored the warmth of Blake’s hand as it wrapped around her own. 

The orchestra played something slow, and Blake and Yang were forced to hold each other close. 

“Yang,” Blake began, the first time that she had said Yang’s name since their fight. 

“What, Blake?” Yang asked, as they spun, because Blake hadn’t said anything else. 

“Going to Weiss first was the most practical decision,” Blake said finally. “You know it was, and I’m not going to apologize for that.” 

Yang had a mind to rip herself away from Blake and just walk away again. Instead she stayed, her grip on Blake tightening infinitesimally. “Wow. That was probably _not_ the best way to start this conversation, don’t you think?” 

“I’m just trying-”

“Blake. Look, I don’t need your excuses or your reasons or even your apologies.” 

“Then what do you need from me, Yang? Because, I don’t.” Blake stopped even pretending to dance. She just stopped dead, in the middle of the dancefloor. Yang swayed because of the momentum, but she didn’t get too far, since she was still in Blake’s arms. “I don’t want us to be finished,” Blake said finally, everything laid bare on her face, here, in the middle of a group of people. She could tell by the look on Blake’s face that this was the beginning and the end of everything. That Blake was giving her everything that she had. 

“I don’t know,” Yang said finally. She didn’t try to get away from Blake, or move at all. She stayed right where she was too, gripping Blake’s hand so tight it had to hurt now, but neither of them tried to pull away. “I don’t know what I need from you but I-” 

She was spared from finishing her thought by the explosion that suddenly shook the entire ballroom. 

Of course, the screaming started not long after that, and the panicked running of the civilians out of the room. “What was that?” Blake asked scanning the room. They finally backed away from each other. “Did you notice anything?”

And dammit, she hadn’t, too wrapped up in her and Blake’s drama. She should have noticed something, she was _trained_ to notice, but she’d been too far gone in what was happening to her to pay attention to her surroundings. “No,” she said finally. 

For not the first time, she was glad that her prosthetic had its own version of Ember Celica built in. That made the fact that she hadn’t worn her gauntlet--it didn’t exactly match her gown--less pressing. She activated her arm, and looked around the room, the smoke clearing. 

“Do you guys remember the attack formations?” Ruby called across the room, where she and Weiss were guarding each other’s backs. It was hard to hear her over the chaos, but Yang managed. 

Blake lifted up her long skirt and pulled out her scroll, which meant that her weapon was coming. Yang sighed in relief. 

“There,” Blake said, gesturing towards the corner of the room, where a pack of men wearing all black and Grimm masks stood. There were at least twelve of them, probably more but Yang couldn’t see any others as she scanned the room. 

Yang didn’t understand their angle. There had been a few White Fang wannabee uprisings in the years since the organization fell, but there had been no warning to this. The Schnee family being attacked was somewhere to start--especially at a social event like this, with little to no security--as the name would ensure that news would spread throughout Remnant, but still...why? Why now? 

Oh well, Yang decided as she sent a round of bullets their way. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t stop them from doing whatever they were doing. 

The wannabees were nowhere near the strength of the original White Fang, and Yang took them all down easily, Blake fighting beside her. There were just a lot of them, but once team RWBY, always team RWBY, and they were taking all of them down with ease. Only one guy was actually good, moving with a speed that Yang didn’t see from anyone else, but Ruby was taking him on directly. 

One of the men came up behind Yang, trying to sneak up on her, which was lame and ineffective. Yang was just about to whirl around and punch him in the face when Blake took care of him for her. 

“My Adam informant,” Blake said, looking at the man Ruby was fighting. Horror was dawning slowly over her face. “That’s him.” 

“Wait, what-” But before Yang could finish her question, Blake was running towards Ruby. 

Yang heard Blake shout, “Ruby, this one’s mine,” just as she had to turn around and face another assailant. Her back to the fight, Yang wasn’t sure what happened. She just heard the sounds of fighting, alarms blaring from outside the Schnee Manor, the thuds of bodies hitting the floor. 

She wasn’t sure what compelled her to turn around, but she did, and that’s when she saw Blake’s informant hit Blake with his weapon--infused with dust that turned a deep, dark red--so hard that Yang could hear the _thud_ her head made on the floor from as far away as she was. 

Yang didn’t even hesitate. She went straight for the informant, feeling fury swell up in her, and hit the guy twice as hard as he hit Blake with her flesh and bone hand. 

It worked, and he was down in one hit. After that it was game over, the rest of the wannabees retreating at rapid speed, practically tripping over themselves to get the hell out. 

“Let them go,” Yang heard Ruby say, distantly. She was too focused on Blake to pay attention to anything else. 

Blake’s aura was already starting to heal her, faintly glowing all around her body but concentrated especially at her head. Yang fell to her knees beside her in relief, knowing that this meant that Blake would be okay, even if it took a while. 

“Yang,” Weiss said from beside her ear, gently shaking her shoulder. “Yang, we’re going to move her into a room at the manor.” 

“Okay,” Yang said dully. “Okay.” 

She watched as Schnee employees gently lifted Blake up and carried her to the nearest bedroom on the second floor. She didn’t leave her side for a moment, walking right beside them as they moved her away. 

As soon as Blake was settled in the bed, Yang dragged the armchair from the corner of the room to Blake’s bedside and sat. Other than shaking the pins out of her hair and finally letting it fall freely around her shoulders again, she didn’t move at all. 

Yang didn’t care about why Blake’s Adam informant had betrayed her, or figuring why this had happened. All she wanted was for Blake to wake up. She knew that Ruby and Weiss would take care of that for her. They were her teammates, her sisters. She was glad to have them. 

The sun was beginning to shine gently through the curtains when Weiss came into the room, holding a tray of breakfast foods. “You should go eat,” Weiss said, pushing the tray towards her. 

“I can eat it here,” Yang said, waving a hand. “I’m fine.” 

“You’re still in your dress from last night, which can’t be comfortable, and you haven’t moved at all. You should go take a shower and put on something else. I’ll stay here with her, if you want.” 

“No.” 

“Yang-” 

“I’m not moving,” Yang said, finally looking away from Blake. Weiss didn’t get it. Weiss could never get it, because she had never woken up from something like this alone. After the Battle of Beacon, Yang had woken up alone. Her dad had gone to take a bathroom break, or to get food, or to check up on Ruby, or _something_ , and he hadn’t been there when Yang had woken up. She had woken up in her own bed with no arm and no partner and no one to tell her what was happening, and so she had panicked and cried and started to scream. Taiyang had run in after hearing all of that, had calmed her down, but she would never forget the way that one split second between waking up slowly and screaming because she had realized everything that she had lost.

Even if Blake wouldn’t wake up alone since Weiss would be there, it wouldn’t be the same. Weiss wouldn’t get it. Yang wanted to be here when Blake woke up, period. “Thanks for the food, but I’ll just eat it here.” Yang made no move for the tray but Weiss set it down on the floor next to her feet anyway. 

“Okay,” Weiss said finally, making a point to linger. “But if you need a break, Ruby and I would be more than happy to take over.” 

“Thanks,” Yang said. She heard the door close again, and then it was just her and the sound of Blake breathing again. 

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but she knew that after some more sitting the next thing she remembered she was being shaken awake gently. 

She sat straight up, the room spinning slightly. “What happened?” she asked, her entire body coiling in case she needed to do something. 

“You just looked uncomfortable,” Blake said, softly. “I was going to ask if you wanted to lay down on the bed or something.” 

“How are you feeling?” Yang asked, moving her focus to Blake. She _looked_ fine, and aura was good at its job, but head trauma was a tricky thing. “I should go get you a doctor, I’m sure Weiss has one on speed dial...” 

Yang shook her head, trying to clear it. She was still groggy with sleep, sluggish and exhausted even though she had to have slept for a while. “I’m sorry,” she said finally, “that I wasn’t awake when you woke up. I tried to be, but...” 

“It’s fine,” Blake said. She had grabbed Yang’s hand, her prosthetic hand, all cold metal and wires, and squeezed it. “I’m just glad that you’re still here.” 

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Yang told her, and she threaded their fingers together. 

Blake looked up at her and there was something fragile on her face, like one wrong move and Yang could make her shatter. “I-” she began, but then the door opened. 

“Blake you’re awake!” Ruby said, rushing to Blake’s side. “How are you feeling? Do you need me to get you some water? I should probably go get Weiss, shouldn’t I? She’s kind of busy right now, though. She’s going to be so mad that she missed you waking up...” 

“Busy?” Yang asked. “I just talked to her a few hours ago. What is she doing?” 

Ruby’s expression turned dark. “Getting information from the guy that hurt Blake.” 

“I should be the one doing that,” Blake said, whipping the blankets off herself getting out of bed. She shook a shaky step forward and was forced to sit down again. 

“It’s because of the aura you lost trying to heal yourself,” Yang told her, remembering how it felt. The complete and utter weakness that left you so empty after your body spent all of its energy making sure you didn’t die. “You’re going to be tired for a long time, so you’re not going to do anything or go anywhere, except maybe to take a shower.” 

“Oh, yeah, Weiss had all your stuff moved over here. So I’ll go get it for you,” Ruby said, zooming out of the room again. 

“Well,” Yang said. “Even if you’re too tired _I_ should probably go shower...and get out of this dress. It’s harder and harder to breathe in it every second...” Yang trailed off, not sure where she was going with this. For some reason she felt like she had to fill the space in the room, but that was ridiculous. Of course she didn’t. She closed her mouth. 

“Okay,” Blake said. “You should probably sleep some too, but...” she bit her lip and trailed off. “But when you’re done with all of that, are you going to come back?” 

“If you want me to.” 

“I do.” 

 

Yang walked back to Blake’s room after her shower to find Weiss and a doctor just coming out of it. 

“Is everything okay?” Yang asked, scanning their faces. Neither of them seem devastated, but she had to ask anyway. 

“She needs to rest for a few days, but she should be fine after that,” the doctor said. He parted Yang on the shoulder before continuing to head forward even as Weiss lingered behind. 

“We got the information out of the man that attached Blake,” Weiss said. 

“Good,” Yang replied. “Have you told Blake yet?” 

“I wanted to let her rest first. But I can tell you, if you want.” 

“I don't care about that right now,” Yang shook her head. “I can find out when you tell blake. I just want to be with her.” 

“Of course,” Weiss said, and stepped aside. 

Blake was sitting up in bed when Yang walked in, and she let out a huge sigh when she saw who had come through the door. “You came back.” 

“I said I would, didn’t I?” Yang hesitated for a moment, noticing that her chair was pushed back into its original corner, before she just sat down next to Blake on the bed. 

Blake seemed stronger than she had just hours earlier, but she was still pale. Yang studied her and Blake stared back, neither of them saying anything. The longer that Yang looked at Blake, the more her face turned unreadable. Yang didn’t know how to react to that. 

Tentatively, slowly, Blake reached out and cupped Yang’s cheek with her hand. Yang went absolutely still and waited as Blake inched closer and closer and brushed her lips against Yang’s. 

Yang let the kiss go on for a moment before she turned away gently, and wrapped her fingers around Blake’s wrist. “You just woke up,” Yang said, heart beating loudly in her chest. “We shouldn’t...you shouldn’t exert yourself.” 

Blake didn’t try to break away. Instead, she kept her wrist in Yang’s grip and looked beseechingly into her face. “I don’t care. I want you,” she said honestly. “But I’d understand if you didn’t want me too.” 

Yang searched Blake’s face, and didn’t reply. Blake didn’t seem like she was sick or concussed. Her eyes were clear and sharp and present, and Yang’s heart jumped to her throat from the want that had made its way to Blake’s face. She seemed sincere, and that was all Yang needed in that moment. 

Yang leaned in and closed the space between them. Blake froze, as if she hadn’t been expecting Yang to do that, and then she kissed Yang back. 

Unlike the first kiss that they had shared back at Yang’s apartment, this one was slow and deep almost immediately. There was no easing into it--one moment they weren’t kissing, and the next moment they were, completely wrapped up into each other. 

Blake was the one that pressed closer, who made it so eventually Yang had to recline backwards onto the plush pillows and silk sheets of the bed. She didn’t let Yang stop kissing her for a moment, even as she fell. Only a few seconds passed, their mouths only inches apart, breaths mingling, before Blake was kissing her again. 

As Blake leaned over Yang, her hair created a curtain between them and the rest of the world. Yang was fine with that, was fine with everything narrowing to just them. For so long it had seemed like outside forces were always tearing them apart, were always what had caused their separation for ten long years. 

When it was just the two of them, things were easier. When it was just the two of them it was easy to remember why all of this had happened in the first place, how Yang had met a girl that she had written off just the night before in a forest, and that girl had become her partner and then her best friend and then the girl she loved. Things between them could be simple, Yang knew that when they kissed, lips sliding and their bodies touching each other everywhere that they could. 

The two of them might not have been simple right now, but at that moment, Yang didn’t want to acknowledge that. She just wanted to kiss Blake, and have Blake kiss her in return. 

Blake was the one that began tugging at Yang’s clothes, helping Yang lift her tank top over her head. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath it, and so for a long time Blake just looked at her before reaching down, and ran her fingertips lightly over Yang’s body. Yang shivered at the barely there contact, and Blake’s eyes flashed up to hers at the sound. Her eyes were darkened and so hot that Yang shivered again. Blake wanted this. She really, really wanted this.

And then Blake put her whole hand on Yang’s stomach, and there was nothing about Blake that was barely there. 

Blake’s hands and lips were everywhere. She pushed her hair back from her forehead, and she kissed Yang all the way down from her lips to her neck, pausing for moments at her breasts just to hear the noises Yang would make, as sensitive as she was. And then she continued downward, stopping once she got to Yang’s pants. 

She took her time sliding those off Yang’s body, and her underwear too, making a show of it, but also making a point to. Blake had done nothing with any hurry, unlike the last time she and Yang had had sex. Then they had played into the adrenaline of the night, of want that had built up after ten years, at the sexual tension that had existed between them ever since they had met again. 

Blake didn’t reach for any of her own clothes at all. Yang was about to complain about that--because really, why did this seem as though it was only about her?--when Blake reached over her and got a pillow to put under Yang’s hips before reaching up to kiss her mouth again. 

With a strong hand, Blake pushed Yang’s legs apart. Yang parted them easily, wrapping her arms around Blake’s neck as Blake’s fingers began to work their way between her legs and spreading her wide open as she took her time touching Yang everywhere that she could. 

“Blake,” Yang wasn’t able to stop herself from sighing. They weren’t kissing anymore, instead just looking at each other. Yang’s eyes fluttered closed as Blake’s fingers brushed her clit before she began to move in rhythmic circles. “ _Blake_ ,” Yang repeated, pleasure building slowly but surely, until it made its way throughout her body. 

“I love it when you say my name like this,” Blake admitted, and Yang’s eyes shot open in surprise. They’d only had sex the once, but Blake wasn’t very talkative during sex, didn’t make noise unless it was forced out of her or she was spoken to first. The fact that she had said something like this with no prompting made Yang as happy as it made her warm. This was something that was clear cut and _honest_. 

Before Yang could react, though, Blake kissed her again. Blake’s moved her fingers in one long stroke, and then Yang came, Blake’s mouth capturing all the noises that she made. When Yang managed to finally pull away, she did so gasping, still holding onto Blake. 

Blake reached her clean hand up and touched Yang’s face before finally rolling off her, breathing heavily as Yang came down from her high. It took a moment--the orgasm was intense, but so was the emotion behind it, mixing a cocktail that had done a number on Yang--but eventually Yang looked over at Blake, who was smiling at her slightly. 

“What about you?” she asked, smiling too. She was sweaty and naked, the silk sheets sticking to her skin, but she was happy. 

“Don’t worry about me,” Blake said. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’m fine.” 

Yang turned over, putting her weight on her elbow so she could sit up straighter. “What?” she asked. “What are you talking about?” The warmth that had filled her body up was fleeing slowly as confusion settled in. She didn’t understand what exactly this was, or what was going on inside of Blake’s head. 

“I just would understand if you didn’t want me the way that I want you,” Blake said, not looking at her now. She opened her mouth again, to say something, but Yang didn’t let her. 

Instead, Yang just kissed her, long and deep, before pulling away again. “Of course I want you,” she said, watching the realization dawn over Blake’s face. “I know we’ve done and said things that make it hard to believe, but I’ve always wanted you, this entire time.” 

She leaned down to kiss Blake again, and reached for Blake’s clothes immediately, throwing them to join her own on the floor. Yang made sure to take her time, trying not to rush anything. Blake had grabbed her hand, sliding their fingers together, and Yang held onto that even as she began to moved. She kissed Blake long and deep, and made her way down her body until she was settled comfortably between Blake’s legs. 

Blake was hot and wet, and Yang took her time here too. She made sure Blake’s legs were in a comfortable position for easy access, before licking straight into her, the way that she had during their previous night together. She had learned what Blake liked, and was willing to do it again, even if it meant that their time together wouldn’t be as slow as Yang would like. 

“Fingers,” Blake gasped from above her. She was sitting up on her elbows, looking down at Yang as if there was a part of her that couldn’t believe that this was happening. “Use your fingers too, I want to feel you.” 

“Okay. Whatever you want,” Yang said, pulling herself away before going straight back, making sure her fingers were slick before putting them inside Blake, who fluttered around them as she let out a choked moan. 

Yang slid her fingers in and out of Blake with the same rhythm that she sucked on her clit, and before long Blake’s thighs were trembling and she was sounding more and more desperate, even as she tried not to make any noises at all. 

Yang didn’t relent, didn’t slow down to drag this out. She wanted Blake to come, and could feel when Blake was close. Her hand that was holding Yang’s was gripping her fingers so hard that it was almost enough to hurt. And then Yang curled her fingers just so, and then Blake came too, making Yang’s face and fingers even more wet, and Yang was glad for it. 

Blake finally let go of her hand, but it was only so that she could sit up to kiss Yang again, tangling her fingers in her hair and tasting herself on Yang’s tongue. She was trying to say something, something deep and meaningful, and for once Yang got the message crystal clear. And even if neither of them could quite say it out loud yet, Yang made sure she said it back and kissed Blake twice as hard. 

 

Once they had both calmed down again, their fingers laced, Yang turned to Blake. “If we want this,” she said, holding their hands up as an example, “to last we have to talk to each other. To be honest with each other. No more secrets, no more things that you don’t tell me. Okay?” 

“Okay,” Blake agreed easily. “That’s hard for me, but,” she took a deep breath. “I’m going to try. For you. And for me too.” 

“I just need to know that you can trust me. Because there’s a big part of me that really doesn’t think that you do, and that’s what kills me the most. That you don’t trust me to help you, and that you don’t trust me enough to tell me things.”

“I do trust you, Yang,” Blake said, reaching forward to put some of Yang’s hair behind her ear. “You’re my partner. You’ve _always_ been my partner. I trust you. It’s myself that I don’t trust. I want to keep you safe.” 

“I can take care of myself. I need you to trust me to be able to do that too,” Yang said. 

“I trust you,” Blake repeated, and it was enough to make tears spring to Yang’s eyes. The steadiness of her gaze and the confidence in her voice. 

“It might take me a while to be able to believe that,” Yang admitted. “You’re going to have to give me time. There’s a lot I need to let go of, but I _want_ to. I want us to have a chance to be something great together.” 

“I’ll wait however long you need me to,” Blake said. “I promise.” 

“Okay,” Yang said, and squeezed Blake’s hand one last time before rolling over so that her back was to Blake. 

Blake got the message instantly, and reached for Yang’s body before gathering her in her arms, and then they both slept. 

 

The next morning, Blake was able to stand without any shakiness in her step, and so she walked into the dining room with Yang for breakfast. 

“Blake!” Ruby called. “What do you want for breakfast? I’ll get your plate. We have, uh, everything you could want.” 

“The manor always does when there are people in residence,” Weiss told Ruby with a sniff. “You’re healing faster than expected.” 

Blake shrugged as she sat down. “My aura’s always been able to do this, even as a kid. When I was with the White Fang we trained every day, and didn’t have much time to recover from injuries, so our bodies compensated for that.” 

“Well I’m glad you’re alright,” Ruby said. Having not gotten an answer from Blake, she had taken it upon herself to pile Blake a plate full of both waffles and bacon and steamed fish and rice, a steaming cup of tea--with a saucer--in front of Blake. “The hit that you took was nasty, that guy was trying to poison you too apparently.”

“Poison?” Yang asked. “What the hell?” She turned to Blake, who looked just as lost. 

“I don’t know,” Blake said, “Poison has never been something Adam has used before. Maybe he wanted to make sure I was knocked out before he had those people take me to wherever he was.” 

“Maybe,” Weiss said. “That wasn’t something that man mentioned when we interrogated him, but we got the most important information anyway.” 

“And what’s that?” Yang asked. 

“Adam is in Atlas, and he’s waiting for Blake. He was trying to set a trap, which is why he used our engagement party as a way to start something as soon as he knew Blake was going to it. But now that we know about the trap-”

“I can step into it with my eyes wide open,” Blake said, nodding. She took a bite of rice before adding, “And of course I’ll do it.” 

“If you do, then I’ll go with you,” Yang said. “We’ll walk into the trap together.” 

“I don’t-” Blake started, before cutting herself off. 

“Partners,” Yang reminded her. “Trust. Let me do this. I can handle it. I can help you.” 

“Ruby and I would be more than willing to help as well,” Weiss added. “If you require our assistance.” 

“Okay,” Blake said, and for a long moment she was silent. As a team, team RWBY had trusted each other once upon a time. They had believed in each other, and knew they could handle whatever life threw at them together, even if Blake had the hardest time reconciling with that. 

Blake had been gone from that for a long time, and so this was almost like starting back at square one with her. Yang knew that, and understood it, but it didn’t mean that she was going to pull back at all. She was going to continue forward with everything that she had. 

For Blake, but also for the chance to destroy Adam. 

“So what I was thinking was,” Blake began, and they all listened to the plan with rapt attention.

When Blake was done explaining, no one said anything for a long moment. And then Ruby said, “I’m in.” 

Weiss nodded, “I am as well.” 

“Of course,” Yang said, when everyone turned to look at her. “I’ve been in even before I knew the plan. I’ve always been in.” 

Blake took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said on the exhale. “Okay.” 

“Team RWBY back together again,” Ruby said. “And this time, we’re going to do it right.” 

 

Weiss insisted that Blake take another day to rest--“I don’t care how fast your aura replenishes itself because of your childhood home, Blake Belladonna, you need to stay in bed for a while longer!”--and so she stayed in her bed the entire next day, grumbling the entire time. 

Yang brought her books and trays of food, though, and hung out with her all day long. Weiss and Ruby came too sometimes, but mostly they just left them alone to do their own thing. Yang was sure that Weiss and Ruby both knew that _something_ was going on, but neither of them called Blake or Yang out on it, so they all just floated around each other all day. 

The morning that they went to finally go meet Adam, Blake was already awake by the time Yang finally managed to rouse herself enough to sit up in the bed. She was staring out the window through the tiny gap in the curtains, arms crossed over her middle, curling in on herself. 

Yang crawled across the bed and went to stand behind her, bending a little to kiss the back of Blake’s neck. “Hey,” she said, putting her hands lightly on Blake’s hips but not making any other movements. “Are you okay?” 

“Fine,” Blake said. After a moment she leaned back into Yang, her head on Yang’s shoulder. “I just can’t believe it’s almost over. For so long I’ve been trying to catch him and now...now he’s here. And we’re going to finally take him down. And I’m not going to do to do it alone.”

“You never had to do it alone, Blake. We would have always helped you. We’ll always help you, if you need us. We’re your teammates. Nothing can change that.” 

“I know,” Blake said. “There’s just a difference between knowing, and believing.”   
“Well now I hope we’ve finally proved it to you.” 

“You have,” Blake said, and then turned around to face Yang, bringing up one of her hands to Yang’s face. “I believe it,” she said, and went up on her tiptoes to press her mouth to Yang’s. 

 

The address that the informant had provided Weiss and Ruby with was yet another warehouse, near the docs. Atlas was much cleaner and more militaristic than Vale, so it must have been much harder to find somewhere unoccupied, but Adam still managed it. 

Weiss and Ruby were waiting on the outskirts, in case something happened, but Yang and Blake were the only ones that were going in. Blake would appear to go inside alone--Yang liked this part of the plan least of all, but acknowledged the necessity. Adam would get his guard up if he knew that Yang was there too--and Yang followed behind her. 

The Adam of now was not the same Adam of ten years ago. The fall of the White Fang had ensured of that. Yang was sure if this had happened before the fall getting into the warehouse unnoticed would have been much harder, but as it was Adam had hardly any guards and they were not the same caliber that they once were. 

Yang took them out without many problems, and made her way into the back of the warehouse. 

“So, you’ve finally come,” Adam was saying, when Yang came within hearing distance. She crouched behind a tower of crates, to make sure that she was within the parameters that Blake had set up. None of them had ever been inside this warehouse, but they had done the best with what they had. 

Which was, mostly, winging it, but this was as close as they could estimate. 

“I told you before that I’m not running,” Blake said, “but this time I mean it.” 

Adam chuckled, a sound that sent goosebumps of disgusting running up and down Yang’s arms. She hated him so much that she felt it expand within her while she was in his presence. Especially when he was talking to Blake, disgusting fucker that he was. 

“You always say that, Blake,” and the way Adam’s tongue seemed to caress over Blake’s name made Yang want to be sick. It sounded too easy and familiar, and she hated him more than she had ever hated anyone. “But I’ll make sure that you’ll never be able to run again. Or at least, not from me.” 

He began to drag his sword on the ground, the sound echoing in the empty chambers of the warehouse ceiling, as he started making his way to Blake. This was Yang’s que, and so she ran from where she was hiding behind the crates to run and grab him. 

The element of surprise was probably the only reason that Yang was able to overpower him so easily, but she would take it. That, and the fact that her prosthetic arm was so much stronger than any organic arm could be. Adam had taken so much from her, but what he had taken away, in the end, he had given her back tenfold. 

Adam struggled in Yang’s arms, but he wasn’t going _anywhere_. No matter how much he struggled or begged, Yang wasn’t going to let him go. 

In the end, Blake had decided not to kill him, even though Yang wouldn’t have tried to stop her if she had wanted to. Instead, Blake held the blunt edge of Gambol Shroud up behind her shoulder. “You’re right,” she said. “I _won’t_ ever run from you again. Because I won’t have to. You’re finished.” And then she swung Gambol Shroud down, hitting Adam across the head, and it was over. Adam would never hurt anyone ever again. 

Yang let go of Adam, not wanting to touch him for longer than she had to, and he fell into a graceless heap onto the ground. It seemed almost anticlimactic, how he had gotten taken down in the end, but at the same time Yang was glad. 

He didn’t deserve a great fight, or to go out in a blaze of glory. He deserved nothing more than this, to be alone and unconscious on a dirty warehouse floor. Blake looked down at him, and kicked him with the toe of her boot so that he rolled over. 

She took the mask from his face and broke it over her knee. He seemed so much less overpowering when the mask was gone, two eyes just like everyone else’s. He was not the monster he had tried to convince the world he was--just a person, and a weak one at that. 

“Let’s call the authorities,” Blake said, her voice hard. And then she turned and walked away, putting her scroll to her ear. 

Yang nodded, and pulled out her scroll to text Weiss and Ruby that everything was okay, and walked out of the warehouse pulling Adam behind her by the ankle. She dropped him as soon as they were both outside. 

Lights were already flashing, the cops already on her way, and so Yang felt confident that she could walk over to Blake. 

“I thought I would feel better about this, you know?” Blake said. “I thought I would feel happy. But mostly, I’m just relieved.” 

“I get it,” Yang said, and wrapped Blake up into a hug. After a moment of hesitation, Blake melted into Yang’s embrace, and brought her arms up to hug Yang back. 

“I just don’t know what to do now,” Blake said, her voice muffled by Yang’s shoulder. “For so long, my life was defined by trying to take Adam down. But now...” 

“You can take it one day at a time,” Yang said. “And I’ll be here with you, when you do.” 

Blake nodded, and squeezed Yang harder. “I’m glad.” 

The cops, and Ruby and Weiss, finally arrived, so Yang felt like she could pull away from Blake. 

“So,” she began. “How do you feel about sex on the beach?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realize this is a long shot but if any of y'all have any questions about this au or if you want to talk about rwby at all (i went to rtx this weekend and saw the rwby panel on saturday--THAT TRAILER THO RIP ME I'M SO READY) i'm tomosakus on tumblr and @thecivilunrest on twitter!


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